Category Archives: NEW TESTAMENT

15 - First Timothy, Christian Living, Salvation

“REFINANCING THE PAST” — BOB PRICHARD

I enjoy the comics, not only because they allow me to have a chuckle in the midst of an evil and frightening world, but because they often suggest profound thoughts. A “Frank and Ernest” cartoon (9/8/2017) has Ernest speaking to Frank as a loan officer, telling him, “In order to invest in my future, I need to refinance my past.”

It is often prudent to refinance a loan, getting a better interest rate or a more affordable payment. There is usually a cost, but that cost is offset by future savings (if the borrower is acting wisely).

Your future is affected by your past, not only in terms of finances, but in terms of how your life has been invested. Whether you have used your time wisely, been diligent in pursuing an education, or lived above the norms of the world have a tremendous impact. Mistakes of the past, even long past, have a tendency to hurt us when we least expect it, like the “Marlboro Man” who quit many years ago but then faced cancer, or the crisis we face today because we did not plan for the “rainy day.”

When it comes to spiritual matters, even the best of us need to have our past refinanced so that we can have a future. From the time Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, each of us has followed the same path. “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And that sin has a significant cost: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). In fact, the cost was so high, that the only remedy for this great sin debt was “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

In the financial world, it is possible to dig such a serious hole of debt that no refinancing is possible. All that is left is to declare bankruptcy. That is where we find ourselves concerning our sins. We are bankrupt without Christ. Paul acknowledged his bankrupt state: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” But Christ saved him, and gave him a future. “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (1 Timothy 1:15-16). We have followed Paul’s pattern in sin, and we can follow his pattern in obeying the Lord to receive his gracious promise for our future!

Bible questions, NEW TESTAMENT, SECOND TIMOTHY

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD”? – BOB PRICHARD

The apostle Paul wrote to the evangelist Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). This verse well-illustrates the need for understanding that word meanings may change, and we must be ever on guard against misapplying or twisting scripture, even when we try to teach the truth. The rendering, “study to show thyself approved unto God” is found only in the King James Version, translated in the year 1611. In 1611 the word “study” meant “strive”, or “be diligent”. Thus the New American Standard Bible renders the verse, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth”. The New International Version renders the verse, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth”.

Bible study is very important, but 2 Timothy 2:15 is not just a command to study the Bible. Being an approved workman involves much more. Paul wanted Timothy to understand that to be a workman that God could approve, he would have to be diligent in his service to God. God is not the kind of Master that accepts shoddy work! By earnestly applying himself in service, Timothy would not need to be ashamed as he stood before God in the day of judgment. To be that diligent, approved workman, he would have to correctly handle the word of truth, what the King James Version renders, “rightly dividing the word of truth”. Of necessity, correctly handling the Bible, the word of truth will involve much study, contemplation, and prayer. It will involve bringing an open mind, an open heart, and a faithful life to the word of truth. Implied in the correct handling is the proper understanding of the divisions between the Old and the New Covenants, understanding that the New Testament is the rule of faith and practice for Christians today.

The goal of being an approved workman should be the goal of all of God’s children. In the verses immediately before 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul stressed the importance of living faithfully before God, even to the point of suffering. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us (2 Timothy 2:12). He then told Timothy, “Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers” (2 Timothy 2:14).

The evangelist Timothy was to remind his hearers of the sacrifice of Christ, the need for serving Him, and the need to work diligently to be approved workmen before God. The diligent application of all our energy to the service of God will allow us to join Timothy standing before God without shame. Nothing will help us more to please God than to handle carefully and correctly God’s written word. We should look to the written word of God with the same reverence as the psalmist who wrote, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Bible questions, Hebrews, NEW TESTAMENT

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF FAITH, SUBSTANCE, HOPE, AND EVIDENCE IN HEBREWS 11:1? — BOB PRICHARD

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Many, both in the religious world and otherwise, have a gross misunderstanding of what constitutes faith. Contrary to scripture, many believe that faith is necessary to “fill in the gaps” in the absence of real, tangible evidence. Carl Sagan, the late and noted atheist and author, once said, “Faith is believing in something in the absence of evidence.”

Hebrews 11:1 answers and clarifies this misunderstanding. The verse: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The word translated “substance” comes from the Greek hupostasis (Strong’s # 5287), which means “a placing or setting under, a substructure or foundation.” This word appears elsewhere in the New Testament as “confident” or “confidence” (2 Corinthians 9:4; 11:17; Hebrews 3:14).

The word translated “evidence” comes from the Greek word elengchos (Strong’s #1650), meaning “a proof, or that by which a thing is proved or tested; conviction.”

The context in question deals with the existence of the universe, for verse 3 says, “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Biblical faith comes from careful observation and the weighing of all available evidence. For example, the atheistic, evolutionary “explanations” for the origins of the universe don’t even qualify as bad science. They are more akin to science fiction. There are only two explanations for the existence of the universe that don’t include a divine creator:

  1. the universe has always existed, or
  2. the universe created itself out of nothing.

Who is willing to accept either proposition? Certainly no intelligent, thinking individual!

Consider also the vast evidence of design in our world and in the universe generally. Is the design present in the earth’s position in relation to the sun (controlling the environment, etc), the moon’s position in relation to the earth (controlling the ocean tides) simply a matter of dumb luck? What about the intricacies of the eye of a housefly, or the human brain (not to mention the magnificence of the entire human body)? Where does the evidence point? It points to an intelligent creator.

Men are sent to prison every day for crimes no one saw them commit. How are such verdicts reached? Through the presentation and consideration of all available evidence. In like fashion, just because no man was present when God created the universe doesn’t mean there is no evidence to support the fact that it happened. If Mr. Sagan was correct in his assessment of what constitutes faith, then it takes a lot more faith to be an atheist than to believe in the God of the Bible!

Finally, because the Bible is a book that can be trusted to be accurate in everything it addresses, we have faith in God and His promises, both to bless the obedient and punish the disobedient. For the obedient, we have the confident hope of heaven. – Bob Prichard

Bible questions, NEW TESTAMENT

WHO WERE THE PHARISEES? — BOB PRICHARD

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‘Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!’ (Matthew 23:13). It seems that the word hypocrite is almost a synonym for Pharisee, because the members of this Jewish sect seemed to always be in conflict with Jesus and the disciples. But there was much more to being a Pharisee than being a haughty hypocrite. They emerged from persecution about two hundred years before Christ, emphasizing the importance of keeping the law and traditions. Their number included Simeon, who held the baby Jesus, Zacharias, Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Saul of Tarsus.

Pharisees were considered the strictest sect of the Jews because each member had taken a pledge to devote his life to keeping every point of the law. Because of their piety, they were generally well-respected by the people. Jesus acknowledged, ‘The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat’  (Matthew 23:2). Many were also scribes (men with official status who had been formally trained in rabbinic law), so the scribes and Pharisees are often mentioned together.

While their devotion to the law and to the traditions about the law made them zealous students of the Torah (books of Moses) and the prophets, many became legalists concerning their traditions. It was in their traditions that they strayed most from God’s will.

Their greatest conflicts with Christ came in two areas. First, while the Pharisees often ignored the plain meaning of the Scripture when it conflicted with the teaching of the rabbis, Jesus held to a strict interpretation of the Scriptures. For example, the Pharisees allowed many grounds for divorce, but Jesus restricted divorce to the one ground of adultery (Matthew 19:3-9). And Jesus defended His healing on the Sabbath as correct, ‘the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath’ (Mark 2:27), even though this conflicted with the Sabbath prohibitions of the Pharisaic rabbis.

Second, Jesus called for a much higher standard of righteous living that truly came from the heart, applying the Scriptures to real life. The Pharisees were so tied to ‘keeping the rules’ of their traditions that they thought they could attain righteousness by all of their elaborate rituals concerning cleanliness, tithing, and prayer, with little concern for the inner man. For this reason, Jesus told them, ‘Ye are like unto whited sepulchres [whitewashed tombs], which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness’ (Matthew 23:27). While traditions are important, they cannot replace the authority of Scripture.  – Bob Prichard